Sustainable Mountain Development - Mountain Geography: Physical and Human Dimensions - page 622

However, like tourism, the management of protected areas and conservation as a whole
have to be considered within the broader context of SMD.
FIGURE 12.12 Provision of a sustained flow of freshwater is probably the most important contribution
of mountain areas to global development. Huang He River in China. (Photo by H. Liniger.)
Water
As sustainable mountain development concerns both mountain regions and populations
that depend on them, the water flowing from mountain areas is perhaps the most im-
portant element of SMD at the global scale (Fig 12.2). Mountains are often described
as water towers —the sources of freshwater for billions of people (Viviroli et al. 2007).
All of the world's major rivers originate in the mountains. Between a third and a half
of all freshwater flows come from mountain areas; more than half of humanity relies on
mountain water for drinking, domestic use, fisheries, hydroelectricity, industry, irriga-
tion, recreation, or transportation (Bandyopadhyay et al. 1997; Viviroli and Weingartner